The Crucible
by Arthur Miller
Puritans-A Quick Review
• Came to Massachusetts Bay Colony seeking freedom from religious
persecution in Europe.
• Believed in devoting one’s life to God.
• Believed in hard work, education, and spiritual wealth over material
wealth.
• The Puritans also believed the Devil was a very real presence and was
always lurking and seeking ways to lure victims to him.
• Life was also very dangerous. Most colonies were on the fringes of
civilization, and wars with Native Americans were common.
Salem 1692 & The Salem Witch Trials
• In the winter of 1692 Betty Parris, the young daughter of Salem’s new
minister Samuel Parris, became strangely ill. She experienced
hallucinations, seizures, fever, and other odd symptoms.
• When the local doctor could find no reason for Betty’s illness, and
when other young girls began exhibiting strange symptoms, the
townspeople began to suspect witchcraft.
• In late February the group of afflicted girls, including Betty Parris,
Mary Warren, and Abigail Williams began accusing women in the
town of witchcraft, starting with Reverend Parris’s slave Tituba.
Salem Witch Trials-The Circle of Accusations
Those openly
expressing
skepticism of trials
“Grudge”
victims
Outcasts
Tituba
The Trials Themselves
• Judges would admit “spectral evidence”, or testimony of people who
claimed to be “visited by a suspect’s specter” (Linder).
• Ministers, who often lacked any formal legal training, were looked to
for guidance.
• “Evidence that would be excluded from modern courtrooms-hearsay,
gossip, stories, unsupported assertions, surmises-was also generally
admitted.” (Linder).
• Many accused witches would give false confessions in order to avoid
a death sentence.
The Salem Witch Trials-The Final Outcome
• People began to doubt the veracity of the trials and wonder how so
many respectable people could be guilty of such crimes.
• By the end of the Salem Witch Trials in August of 1692, 19 “witches”
were hanged, one man was pressed to death, and two dogs were
executed as suspected accomplices.
Contemporary Connections-The Crucible and
McCarthyism
Watch the following clip on Senator Joseph McCarthy and the “red
scare”. Then, discuss the following questions with a partner:
1. What political ideology did many American fear during the
1940’s-1960’s?
2. How did member of Congress, and specifically Joseph
McCarthy, use this fear to their advantage?
3. What similarities can you draw to the discussion we just had
about the Salem Witch Trials?
Contemporary Connections-The Crucible and
McCarthyism
• The author of The Crucible, Arthur Miller, wrote the play in part as a
reaction to “McCarthyism” and the fear of communism in the 1950s.
• In the wake of this fear of communisms spread, Senator Joseph McCarthy
claimed “more than two hundred “card-carrying” communists had
infiltrated the United States government” (“Arthur Miller, McCarthyism”).
• Those accused of being “communist sympathizers” were brought before
the House Un-American Activities Committee.
• Just like in Salem in 1692, the accused were encouraged to name others to
avoid punishment, thus fueling the hysteria and paranoia.
• The entertainment industry was especially hard hit, with many people
losing work, freedoms, and being jailed, often based on “unsubstantiated
accusation” (“Arthur Miller, McCarthyism”).
The Crucible-Background on the play
• Set during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, so many of the people
historically involved are represented in the play (historical fiction).
• A crucible has two main meanings:
• A container of metal employed for heating substances to high temperatures
• A severe, searching test or trial
The Crucible-Major Characters
• John Proctor
• Stern man who hates hypocrisy (look for the irony here)
• Extremely worried about his reputation and public persona at first
• Considered the tragic hero of the play, and undergoes a great
change from start to finish
The Crucible-Major Characters
• Abigail Williams
• As an orphan and unmarried woman, she occupies one of the
lowest rungs of Puritan society.
• She becomes the manipulative, vindictive leader of the group of
girls who lead the trials. She is meant to be the villain of the play.
• She is Reverend Parris’s niece
The Crucible-Major Characters
• Reverend Hale
• A scholar, he is very smart and intellectual, but also rather naïve.
• Like Proctor, he will undergo a dramatic change from the start of
the play to the end.
• Reverend Hale is brought in to Salem to help find witches and
bring them to justice.
The Crucible-Additional Characters
• Elizabeth Proctor-John Proctor’s wife
• Reverend Parris-Salem’s minister; many don’t like him, as he is
power-hungry and paranoid.
• Judge Danforth-The main judge at the trials; he feels he is in the
right in seeking to root out all witchcraft from Salem.
• Tituba-Parris’s slave that he brought with him from Barbados.
• The accused, all people taken from history
• The girls who are part of Abigail’s group and who lead the
accusations
The Crucible Major Themes
• The Dangers of Intolerance
• The theocratic society of 1692 Salem essentially outlawed any deviation from
social norms
• At one point Danforth says, “You must understand, sir, that a person is either
with this court or against it, there be no road in between”, thus implying that
one is either on board with the trials, and thus on God’s side, or against, and
thus with Satan.
• The Power of Hysteria and Mob-Mentality
• The more confessions people give, and the more dramatic the girls’
performances, the more hysterical the town becomes
• This hysteria allows grudges and resentments to bubble up
• Survival vs. Integrity
Elements of Drama
• Tragedy: A play that involves the downfall of the main character
• Protagonist: The play’s central character; usually experiences a
radical change
• Antagonist: Character/force that opposes the main character
• Internal Conflict: A conflict a characters experiences within
him/herself (man vs. self)
• External conflict: A conflict a character experiences with an outside
force (man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society)
• Foil: Two character who serve as a sharp contrast to each other
Elements of Drama
• Stage directions: Give information about setting/props/details of a
character
• Dialogue: Conversation between characters
• Monologue: A long speech given by one character to another
• Soliloquy: When a characters speaks his private thoughts out loud,
unaware of the audience
• Aside: Short speech to the audience/character beyond the hearing of
others on stage
The Crucible as Tragedy
• Tragic Hero: A character who, through some flaw in his character,
experiences a downfall and/or death. (Think Macbeth).
• Tragic flaw: the flaw inherent in the tragic hero’s character that leads
to his/her demise. (For example, Macbeth’s ambition to be king, and
his weak-mindedness in the face of pressure and suggestion from
others)
Works Cited
“Arthur Miller, McCarthyism.” PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2012.
<http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/arthurmiller/mccarthyism/484/>.
Linder, Douglas. “The Witchcraft Trials in Salem: A Commentary.” n.p.
September 2009. Web. 13 October 2015.